Eco Friendly Gardening Techniques
Posted: November 11th, 2013, 1:32 pm
Improving the soil structure
It is often said that “Feed the soil not the plant”. Everything associated with the plant: its health, the nutrients and pests attacking it are ultimately linked to the soil structure. Grasshoppers are unlikely to come near the crops if there is enough copper in the soil that is picked up the plants. Pests are mostly attracted to the scent of phosphate given by diseased or stressed plants. Use of pesticides over utilizes the phosphates which worsen insects’ attacks in the long run.. These predators wage a constant war on plants, and if farmers do nothing the output is likely to decline every year. This is why new seed more resistant to diseases are needed all the time. There are limits to relying heavily on fertilizers as in the case of China. Since 1990 Chinese grain production has been roughly stable but the use of fertiliser—which is heavily subsidised— has risen by about 40%.
A classic case is the depletion of soil by soil erosion in Haiti. Rice makes up 20% of the typical Haitian diet. In 1981 Haiti used to import 18,000 tons of rice. Now it imports 400,000 tons of rice. Main reason for the depletion of soil has been shrinking forests and the increasing use of fertilizer which have damaged the top soil structure. Less than 4% of Haiti’s forests remain. In contrast merely 2.2% of the area in Pakistan is inhabited by forests. Some say, as a nation’s soil goes, so goes the nation.
In the one of the episodes from Monty Don’s ‘Around the World in 80 Garden’ he travels to an Amazon rain forest of Brazil and finds a Red Indian woman burning charcoal and mixing it in the soil. Turns out that she is simply practicing what her ancestors used to do in the prehistoric age by making rich black soil.
The Amazon forest (Amazonia) contains some of the richest and most fertile packets of ‘Terra Preta’ soil (Black Indian earth). This rare earth soil is supposedly man made since it was found only in pre historic human settlements of South America. This soil was first discovered in ancient archaeological ruins where this terra preta soil, blacker than the blackest coffee, extended from the surface down as much as six feet. Top to bottom this soil was filled with broken pottery. The usage of these broken pieces of pottery in this the soil is akin to adding perlite or sand to potting mix, as a way of improving drainage and keeping the soil from baking completely tight under the sun.
Terra preta soil is characterized by the presence of low-temperature charcoal in high concentrations; of high quantities of broken pieces of pottery; of organic matter such as plant residues, animal feces, fish and animal bones and other material; and rich in vital minerals such as phosphorus, calcium, zinc, and manganese found rarely in most of the tropical soils. It’s most notable ingredient is charcoal – vast sources of it, the source of terra preta’s colour.
Unlike ordinary tropical soil found in Brazil, terra preta remains fertile even after centuries of exposure to sun and rain. The richness of this remarkable soil has been tested in the agricultural research centres of Brazil “Embrapa” where scientists test new crop varieties and tried to ruin or damage this soil by exposing it to sun & rain and till date have yet to succeed in destroying the richness of this soil
The key ingredient to terra preta is charcoal, made by burning plants and refuse at low temperatures. Results indicate charcoal rich terra preta contain 10-20 times more carbon than typical tropical soils and the carbons can be buried much deeper down. Reportedly by simply adding crumbled charcoal and condensed smoke to depleted soils tend to cause an exponential increase in the microorganisms in the soil which are vital for fertility. Charcoal seems to provide habitat for microbes-making a kind of artificial soil within the soil- partly because nutrients bind to the charcoal rather than being washed away. Tests results indicate that terra preta soil had a far greater number and variety of micro-organisms than typical tropical soils.
Apart from enriching the soil it is believed this black soil may help to combat global warming. Heavily plowed in our typical soil normally releases carbon dioxide as it exposes once buried organic matter. Some argue that creating terra preta around the world would use so much carbon rich charcoal that it could more than offset the release of soil carbon into the atmosphere. Some have even asserted that the mankind’s use of fossil fuels worldwide could be offset by storing carbon in terra preta nova. Residues from commercial forests, fallow farm fields and annual crops can be used to convert to charcoal.
However it has not been identified that how much carbon can be stored in the soil as studies indicate that there may be a limit in addition to identifying the microorganisms associated with terra preta.
Moral of the story is that we have focus on improving the soil structure by relaying on environment friendly sustainable technqiues and limiting the use of chemical pesticides/fertlizers. The next subpost in this thread would be based on ‘No Dig Gardening’ an eco friendly soil practice which apart from increasing the fertility of the soil helps in conserving water.
Note:
Most of the information was excerpted from
No Easy Fix, Economist Feb 24th, 2011
http://www.economist.com/node/18200678
The Future rests on soil. Can we protect it? National Geographic September 2008
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/ ... /mann-text
Haiti’s degraded land can’t produce enough food, National Geographic September 2008
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/ ... ourne-text
It is often said that “Feed the soil not the plant”. Everything associated with the plant: its health, the nutrients and pests attacking it are ultimately linked to the soil structure. Grasshoppers are unlikely to come near the crops if there is enough copper in the soil that is picked up the plants. Pests are mostly attracted to the scent of phosphate given by diseased or stressed plants. Use of pesticides over utilizes the phosphates which worsen insects’ attacks in the long run.. These predators wage a constant war on plants, and if farmers do nothing the output is likely to decline every year. This is why new seed more resistant to diseases are needed all the time. There are limits to relying heavily on fertilizers as in the case of China. Since 1990 Chinese grain production has been roughly stable but the use of fertiliser—which is heavily subsidised— has risen by about 40%.
A classic case is the depletion of soil by soil erosion in Haiti. Rice makes up 20% of the typical Haitian diet. In 1981 Haiti used to import 18,000 tons of rice. Now it imports 400,000 tons of rice. Main reason for the depletion of soil has been shrinking forests and the increasing use of fertilizer which have damaged the top soil structure. Less than 4% of Haiti’s forests remain. In contrast merely 2.2% of the area in Pakistan is inhabited by forests. Some say, as a nation’s soil goes, so goes the nation.
In the one of the episodes from Monty Don’s ‘Around the World in 80 Garden’ he travels to an Amazon rain forest of Brazil and finds a Red Indian woman burning charcoal and mixing it in the soil. Turns out that she is simply practicing what her ancestors used to do in the prehistoric age by making rich black soil.
The Amazon forest (Amazonia) contains some of the richest and most fertile packets of ‘Terra Preta’ soil (Black Indian earth). This rare earth soil is supposedly man made since it was found only in pre historic human settlements of South America. This soil was first discovered in ancient archaeological ruins where this terra preta soil, blacker than the blackest coffee, extended from the surface down as much as six feet. Top to bottom this soil was filled with broken pottery. The usage of these broken pieces of pottery in this the soil is akin to adding perlite or sand to potting mix, as a way of improving drainage and keeping the soil from baking completely tight under the sun.
Terra preta soil is characterized by the presence of low-temperature charcoal in high concentrations; of high quantities of broken pieces of pottery; of organic matter such as plant residues, animal feces, fish and animal bones and other material; and rich in vital minerals such as phosphorus, calcium, zinc, and manganese found rarely in most of the tropical soils. It’s most notable ingredient is charcoal – vast sources of it, the source of terra preta’s colour.
Unlike ordinary tropical soil found in Brazil, terra preta remains fertile even after centuries of exposure to sun and rain. The richness of this remarkable soil has been tested in the agricultural research centres of Brazil “Embrapa” where scientists test new crop varieties and tried to ruin or damage this soil by exposing it to sun & rain and till date have yet to succeed in destroying the richness of this soil
The key ingredient to terra preta is charcoal, made by burning plants and refuse at low temperatures. Results indicate charcoal rich terra preta contain 10-20 times more carbon than typical tropical soils and the carbons can be buried much deeper down. Reportedly by simply adding crumbled charcoal and condensed smoke to depleted soils tend to cause an exponential increase in the microorganisms in the soil which are vital for fertility. Charcoal seems to provide habitat for microbes-making a kind of artificial soil within the soil- partly because nutrients bind to the charcoal rather than being washed away. Tests results indicate that terra preta soil had a far greater number and variety of micro-organisms than typical tropical soils.
Apart from enriching the soil it is believed this black soil may help to combat global warming. Heavily plowed in our typical soil normally releases carbon dioxide as it exposes once buried organic matter. Some argue that creating terra preta around the world would use so much carbon rich charcoal that it could more than offset the release of soil carbon into the atmosphere. Some have even asserted that the mankind’s use of fossil fuels worldwide could be offset by storing carbon in terra preta nova. Residues from commercial forests, fallow farm fields and annual crops can be used to convert to charcoal.
However it has not been identified that how much carbon can be stored in the soil as studies indicate that there may be a limit in addition to identifying the microorganisms associated with terra preta.
Moral of the story is that we have focus on improving the soil structure by relaying on environment friendly sustainable technqiues and limiting the use of chemical pesticides/fertlizers. The next subpost in this thread would be based on ‘No Dig Gardening’ an eco friendly soil practice which apart from increasing the fertility of the soil helps in conserving water.
Note:
Most of the information was excerpted from
No Easy Fix, Economist Feb 24th, 2011
http://www.economist.com/node/18200678
The Future rests on soil. Can we protect it? National Geographic September 2008
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/ ... /mann-text
Haiti’s degraded land can’t produce enough food, National Geographic September 2008
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/ ... ourne-text